27. A blueprint for modern sustainability leadership

Emily Coon is part of a new generation of sustainability professionals working to build long-term resilience into the bones of businesses. Soon to leave her role at St Austell Brewery to join the pub group, Fuller's, Emily joins Nick to discuss the changing nature of sustainability roles and responsibilities within the food and hospitality sectors, and the qualities this generation of leaders will need to bring to the table that sets them apart from those who came before. Emily shares the reasons why she sees it as a positive trend for the sustainability function to become more closely integrated into areas like finance, operations and procurement – but highlights the risk that accountability is lost in the process. She explains too why it’s essential the modern sustainability professional is commercially literate, and spells out why the ability to influence should be considered a sustainability ‘superpower’ in the absence of the authority to make business-critical decisions.